Squirrels in the attic (living, food, rated)

[nerak31]

Thanks for your response, Mattie. I guess the quotes I got weren't too far off base. Did they just put metal flashing to close up the gap and screen some of the vents around the house? Are you satisfied with the contractor you chose? Do you mind me asking who you went with?

Originally Posted by Mattie

How timely, we just paid $1225.00 yesterday to have the construction gaps closed up in our house. We had already removed all the trees close by, but the guy said roof rats and squirrels can still get in. He said the gaps are very common here in GA, in fact, he said they were within the building code. We aren't sure what is/was in our attic, but the traps are set, and he'll come back tomorrow to check them.

[Mattie]

We used Stinger Pest Control @ 678-389-3629 after reading recommendations at Atlanta Home Service Companies. They installed the metal flashing, covered pipe outlets and vents, sealed all the gaps, and installed some traps in case anything is still upstairs. It included a lifetime warranty, and they will return a couple of times over the next two weeks to check the traps.

[nerak31]

Thanks, Mattie. Lifetime warranty sounds great. The places I've checked out have had only 1, 2, or 5 year warranties, with the option to renew for an additional cost.

[JWK]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

I had them in my last house. I did a search and found where the little buggers had gnawed through a wooden louver vent. I replaced it and screened it with heavy gauge chicken wire. I never had a problem again.
Before shelling out for 'pros', I would at least search the attic for potential points of entry. If you find any, secure them. It worked for me.

These wildlife companies are a ripoff. They wanted $2000 to seal up our roof. Here's a clue - there SHOULDN'T be ANY openings between your soffit, fascia, and roof sheathing. When we re-roofed our house, we looked - NO GAPS ANYWHERE. The more likely entry points are the gable vents, decorative louvre vents, attic fans, etc. All of those should have heavy screening or wire securely across them. Easy fix - even a handyman won't charge you but a couple hundred bucks to do it if you don't want to crawl around your attic.

[wxjay]

Originally Posted by jwk1

These wildlife companies are a ripoff. They wanted $2000 to seal up our roof. Here's a clue - there SHOULDN'T be ANY openings between your soffit, fascia, and roof sheathing. When we re-roofed our house, we looked - NO GAPS ANYWHERE. The more likely entry points are the gable vents, decorative louvre vents, attic fans, etc. All of those should have heavy screening or wire securely across them. Easy fix - even a handyman won't charge you but a couple hundred bucks to do it if you don't want to crawl around your attic.

You still have to pay to get rid of the critters that are already inside and nesting.

[ars1998]

[SIZE=2]Now is the season and we have been sealing up homes in Ga since 1998 This construction gap problem is beyond the building code here Ga. The code is very weak at this point. Some builders have said it was added ventilation while some have called it the storm gap. However I was not able to find anything anywhere about this gap needing to be left and for that matter not being there at all. So they build it and leave this gap on many homes and then you got animals in your attic. Trapping used to be a big sale but the law changed on trapping alone and live traps have to be inspected by the company that sets them every 24 hours. So we rent traps now and will even just give them you if we seal up the gap.
How important is the warranty?
Some customers would just like to be able to close on a house and move on so a warranty becomes nothing to them. But customers who have plans to stay for a few years or even a few decades want a better warranty. We used to offer only a 2-year warranty. But we will now custom write any type of warranty you want on the service.
How good is the warranty:
A warranty is only as good as the company that wrote it. Keep that in mind when you decide to sign one. We have been getting calls from people who have big warranties in their hand and the company is long gone. And they want us to figure out the problem and place them under our warranty. Once we inspect it we find the work not completed with the proper materials or in some cases many areas missed. This year has been the worst yet for competitors just dropping out.
We offer a Free Estimate and Inspection
ARS Wildlife & Animal Removal Specialist
770 947-0900
678 560-0766
[/SIZE][URL="http://www.atticanimals.com/"][SIZE=2]www.atticanimals.com[/SIZE][/URL]

[mm42]

Arbornomics does a good job at a reasonable price.

[Saintmarks]

Our house in Marietta had squirrels. Made me hate them and not want to dodge them whent they run in the street. Nothing more than tree rats.

I refused to pay a huge fee, sealed up my house myself. I would flush them out of the attic, have the kids stand at all corners and we spotted where the came out. The V where the front porch roof came out of the main roof in a shed roof formation had a good sized hole. I patched that, then placed traps I borrowed from an exterminator friend baited with peanut butter.

When we caught one, I still was too soft hearted to do it in, so the kids and I drove it to the top of Kennesaw Mt and let it go.

Before all this, I even resorted to sticking the cat in the attic for a few hours at a time to try and discourage the vermin from thinking it a good place to nest. The cat was useless.

My problem now is the squirrels getting into the bird feeder. We got a special one not on a pole (suspended on a chain from the overhang) with a domed cover that was supposed to be squirrel proof. They still would jump to the dome, cling to the edge with their shrap little claws and lean over the edge to get to the food. Finally found a remedy to that. Vaselined the whole dome. Now that is some good comedy watching them jump on to the dome and then slide off.

Thought you might enjoy some of our goofy antics in the ongoing battles with the squirrels.

[nerak31]

Hahah, thanks for the stories, Saintmarks. Vaseline!??! Genius!

Anyhow, I did get my house sealed and have a few live traps set up in the attic. I heard squirrels scampering around this morning, and I hope they go in the traps soon. The people who sealed our house are going to come back in a 2 days to check on the traps, but I may have to call them earlier if the squirrels are trapped and start squealing. Yikes.

I also had the vents all around the house sealed with mesh to prevent rats. Apparently, rats are a huge problem all over Atlanta.

No more rodents in my house, I hope!!!

[Mattie]

The company who sealed our house has returned twice already. One "roof rat" trapped so far. We haven't heard anything else, but they will come back again and check in a couple of days.